Egyptians ready for post-Mubarak elections

Egyptians argue political issues in front of an anti-government mural a day before presidential elections on May 22, in Cairo, Egypt. Egyptians go to the polls Wednesday and Thursday to choose a new president, the first of the post-Mubarak era. If no candidate wins a majority vote this week, a second round election will be held between the top two candidates on June 16-17.

John Moore / Getty Images

A pedestrian walks past an Egyptian army convoy patrolling the streets a day before presidential elections on May 22, in Cairo, Egypt. Egyptians go to the polls Wednesday and Thursday to choose a new president, the first of the post-Mubarak era. If no candidate wins a majority vote this week, a second round election will be held between the top two candidates June 16-17.

Mohammed Salem / Reuters

An Egyptian worker checks boxes containing ballots a day before the presidential election in Cairo on May 22. The election that starts on Wednesday is the last stage in a messy transition to democracy, overseen by generals who took control after Hosni Mubarak was driven out and have pledged to hand power to a new president by July 1.

Marco Longari / AFP - Getty Images

An Egyptian army officer gestures as he and colleague ride in a vehicle with a megaphone to call Egyptians to vote, in central Cairo's Tahrir Square on May 22, one day before the country's landmark presidential elections.

AFP PHOTO/MARCO LONGARIMARCO LONGARI/AFP/GettyImages

From Reuters: CAIRO - Egypt holds its first genuinely contested presidential election this week, but Amr Adel believes nothing will really change as long as the military keeps an overt or covert grip on power.

Adel, 23, is one of the mostly middle-class, secular-minded young people who galvanized last year's demonstrations that in just 18 days snuffed out President HosniMubarak's 30-year rule.

Like many of them, he feels the struggle is unfinished.

"Any president who comes with Egypt's military dictatorship still in place means nothing. We have been living for decades in an oppressive policestate and I don't see that this is changing. We need to keep spreading awareness," he says, sitting in a Cairo cafe surrounded by a pile of university books. Click here to continue reading this story.